Graduation Weekend for VU Student-Athletes

On Friday morning, graduating senior student-athletes donned caps and gowns for Vanderbilt's annual Commencement ceremony. Afterwards, some of them still had work to do on the court or field. Whitney D shares photos from the weekend's activities.

Early Friday morning, the graduating student-athletes first visited Kirkland Hall for group photos before scattering across campus to line up with their respective schools for the procession onto Alumni Lawn. (In the group photos below, click on the photo to view a larger image.)



While waiting for everyone to gather, Liz Sherwood, the women's basketball team's only senior, posed for a photo with Vice Chancellor David Williams.




Graduating student-athletes from all sports posed with Chancellor Nick Zeppos on the steps of Kirkland Hall.




After the group photo, graduates from each team posed for photos with their teammates, beginning with the lacrosse team.




Women's track and cross country




Men's basketball




Women's tennis




Soccer




Men's cross country




Football




Baseball




After graduation Friday morning, the graduating seniors on the women's tennis team changed into their tennis clothes to face Indiana State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. A 4-0 victory sent them into the second round on Saturday against Kentucky.

After the Wildcats won the doubles point, the teams split the first four singles matches with Vanderbilt wins by seniors Taka Bertrand at #3 and Amanda Taylor (above) at #1 in their last matches at the Currey Tennis Center.




With Kentucky holding a 3-2 lead, a Wildcat win in either of the remaining singles matches would bump the Dores from the tournament. Senior Caroline Ferrell at #6, cheered on by her teammates, won her match to tie the score at 3-3.



With the score tied 3-3, sophomore Catherine Newman at #2 battled to a three-set victory to give Vanderbilt the 4-3 victory and a berth in the Sweet 16 for the 10th consecutive season, giving Taka Bertrand a reason to smile as she left the court for the final time. Next up for the Dores is a match against Florida in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday.




The graduating seniors on the baseball team also had work to do after graduation, with the SEC-leading Georgia Bulldogs coming to town for a 3-game series. The team's seniors were honored after Saturday's game.

Vanderbilt won the Friday night game, but, unfortunately for the Dores, the Bulldogs took the series by winning on Saturday and Sunday. The season continues for the "Diamond Dores" on Thursday with the last regular season series at Florida. After that, there's still more baseball to play with the SEC tournament followed by, in all likelihood, the NCAA tournament.

Graduation weekend also meant the end of the season for several other Vanderbilt teams. The lacrosse team, which finished the season with a school record 13 wins, lost 14-10 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Princeton on Saturday. The men's tennis team defeated Indiana in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, but lost to host Ole Miss in the second round on Sunday. Women's golf finished their season with an 11th place finish in the NCAA regional on Saturday. The track and field team will compete in the SEC outdoor Track and Field Champions in Auburn on May 15-18.


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Photos copyright 2008 by Whitney D for VandymMania.com